Apparatus for making variegated strip shingles



c. R. ECKE-RT original Filed April 2s, 1928 l |Jl==ll APPARATUS FOR MAKING VARIEGATED STRIP SHINGLES seplzs, 1933'.

INVENTOR C/are/we fc/rer.

BY y i ATTORNE i? ff Patented Sept. 26, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR MAKING VARIEGATED STRIP SHINGLES Original application April 23, 1928, Serial No. 272,189. Divided and this application July 16,

' 6 Claims.

This invention relates to processes and apparatus for the manufacture of rooiing material and more particularly variegated strip shingles. This application is a divisional of my co-pending application Serial No. 272,189, filed in the U. S.

Patent Oce April 23, 1928.

Prepared roofing fabric usually consists of a sheet of felt which is made ordinarily of animal, vegetable, or mineral fibers of sufficient porosity to permit it to absorb a molten waterproof composition such as pitch, asphalt, or the like, and of suicient strength to enable it to be impregnated during the operation of forming the ultimate roofing product. This is commonly known as roofing felt and is usually produced on the customary paper-making machines. After the sheet has been properly saturated with the bituminous or other waterproofing material, the sheet is coated on one face with a fairly thin layer of high melting point asphalt. While the asphalt coating is still soft and plastic and before it has set, it is surfaced with any desirable form of crushed mineral such as crushed slate, tile or any other mineral grit which will impart the desired color and texture to the final product. The surface mineral coating is partially embedded in the plastic asphaltic coating to insure a firm and even coating of the granules on the asphaltic coating and to leave the granules so exposed that the asphaltic layer is completely covered thereby. In ordinary practice the sheet thus formed is then out into roofing elements, which take the form of individual shingles or strip shingles.

It has been proposed to deposit the grit or mineral surfacing material upon the plastic or asphaltum coating of the roofing fabric as bands or stripes of grit of one color and upon the intervening spaces grit o f another color, thereby producing a shingle strip having longitudinal stripes of different colors.

According to the present invention, separate and differently colored streams of grit are applied to the asphaltic layer in longitudinal stripes of suitable width and caused to adhere thereto, thereby forming a roofing sheet with longitudinal stripes of different and contrasting colors. This sheet is then cut transversely into strip shingles' Which may simultaneously with or prior to this transverse cutting operation, or thereafter be cut so as to provide a strip shingle with a plurality of spaced tabs at one end thereof, the tabs being so out with respect to the bands or stripes of grit that the spaces between said tabs are positioned in longitudinal alignment with the meeting lines of said stripes. There is thus produced a variegated Serial No.- 378,644

strip shingle, which, when laid on a roof in overlapping courses, yields a 'roofing having the pleasing appearance of being formed of individual shingles of contrasting and different colors.

In the accompanying drawing there are illustrated conventionally shingle strips embodying my invention and suitable instrumentalities which may be employed in their manufacture.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 illustrates a side elevation of a machine which may be used to supply colored grit to form longitudinal bands of different colors on the fabric;

Fig. 2 shows a plan view corresponding to the right-hand portion of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a portion of the sheet of prepared roofing material and illustrates how shingle strips may be formed therefrom;

Fig. 4 illustrates one of the shingle strips;

Fig. 5 shows a shingle strip having dilferently shaped tabs; and

Fig. 6 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of a distributing roll.

Any suitable ber material such, for example, as felt which is preferably impregnated with waterproofing material, asphaltum, pitch or the like may be used as a body or foundation for the manufacture of the shingle strip. This foundation material is obtained in long sheets, as indicated by the reference numeral 10. This sheet is drawn through coating rolls 11 suitably supported in frame 12 or through other devices for applying to one or both sides of the sheet 10 a coating of waterproof adhesive material such as pitch or asphaltum in a soft and plastic state. After passingthrough the rolls 11 the sheet is fed beneath the smoothing and pressing rollers 13 which may be supported as desired and function to evenly distribute and impregnate the fabric 10 with the pitch or asphaltum coating.

'Ihe sheet 10 is then fed beneath a distributing hopper 14 or other form of distributing or feeding device for applying the grit to the coating of pitch or asphaltum. The hopper 14is preferably provided With partitions 15 to form a plurality of compartments 16, the number of compartments depending upon the number of tabs or projections on the shingle strip it is desired to manufacture or the number of colored stripes or bands it is desired to apply to the sheet 10. Secured to the hopper 14, in spaced relation and preferably positioned in alignment with the partitions 15, are vertical plates or fins 17, the function of which Will be hereinafter explained.

A storage hopper 20 is suitably supported and is divided by partitions 21 into a plurality of compartments 22. Each of the compartments 22 is adapted to receive crushed mineral matter such as slate, tile, or other grit, the individual particles of which may be of the same -or different colors. Each compartment 22 is provided with an outlet 23 having a flexible hose or pipe connection 24 which is adapted to be positioned in any desired compartment 16 in hopper 14, so that any Vdesired colored grit in any one of the compartments in hopper 20 may be fed into any desired compartment or chamber in hopper 14. If desired, two or more flexible pipes leading from compartments in hopper 20 may be positioned in a single cornpartment or chamber in hopper 14 so that variously colored grit is supplied to such compartment in the hopper 14.

A distributing roll 26 is suitably journaled in bearings 27, supported on the frame 28 and is provided with serrations or recesses 29 adapted to receive the grit from the compartments in the hopper 14. Upon rotation of the roll 26 the grit is discharged from the serrations in streams and deposited onto the roofing fabric 10. The streams of grit are guided by the hereinbefore describedV guide plates or ns *17 so that the different colored streams of grit from the compartments 16 are not admixed but are deposited on the pitch or asphaltum coating to form longitudinal stripes or bands of contrasting color corresponding to the contrasting or different colors of the material in the hoppers 14.

The thus surfaced sheet is fed over a calender roll 30 suitably supported in bearings 31 carried by the frame 28. This roll acts to imbed the grit in the coating of pitch or asphaltum. The sheet from the roll 30 is passed over guides or fins 32 integral with or secured to the hopper 14, and spaced so that they lie in a vertical plane contiguous with the meeting lines of the stripes or bands on the sheet 10. It will be noted that the guide plates 17 prevent admixture of the streams of colored grit and insure the application of the grit to the sheet 10 in uniform longitudinal bands or stripes, preventing intermingling of the grit forming one stripe with the grit forming the other stripes. After the sheet leaves the guide plate 17, the grit surfacing thereon rests on the sheet and immediately thereafter the sheet is engaged by the calender roll 30. Upon leaving this roll, the guide plates 32, positioned so that they are contiguous to the longitudinal meeting lines of the stripes or bands, act to guide the excess grit into the compartments of hopper 14 so that substantially no admixture of the differently colored grit forming the stripes or bands is possible throughout the operation.

The passage of the sheet 10 over the guide plates 32, permits the excess grit to gravitate between the guide plates onto the calender roll 30 and into the compartments 16 in hopper 14, from whence it was originally removed by the distributing roll 26. The grit adhering to the calender roll 30 is removed by doctor blades or Scrapers 33 suitably supported in the hopper 14 and having the forward edge engaging the roll 30 to remove the grit therefrom.

Supported von the frame 28 is a distributing hopper or other container 35 adapted to receivel `mica or other coating or backing through a exible hose or pipe 36 connected to a storage chamber or container 37. A distributing roll 38 is journaled in bearings 39 on the frame 28 in the opening or mouth 40 of the hopper 35 and serves to apply a coating of mica or other desired baking to the reverse side of the sheet 10. The thus coated sheet, upon leaving the guide plates 32, passes over a feeding and calender roll 41 suitably journaled in bearings 42 on the frame 28. The doctor or scraper blade43 is mounted on or integral with the hopper 35 and acts to remove the mica or other coating adhering to the -calender roll 41 and guides the removed particles to the hopper 35.

Preferably, the' surfaced sheet is then fed over the cooling and pressing rolls 45 and 46, journaled in bearings 47 and 48 on frame 49 to a suitable cutting mechanism (not shown), to be cut transversely to form shingle strips.

The shingle strip is then cut along lines transversely of the strip, which lines correspond with the meeting lines 51 of the differently colored stripes or bands, thereby forming a plurality of spaced tabs 52, 53, 54 and 55, the spaces 50 between the tabs being positioned in longitudinal alignment with the meeting lines 51 of the stripes. The tabs may be of any desired configuration. In Fig. 4, for example, is shown a shingle strip provided with octagonal shaped tabs, the tabs 52, 53, 54 and 55 and the corresponding body 100 portions having a surfacing of red colored grit, blue colored grit, green colored grit, and orange colored grit, respectively. Fig. 5 illustrates a shingle strip provided with tabs, the tabs and -the corresponding body portions of the strip having the same arrangement of colors as theshingle strip of Fig. 4 but the tabs being of rectangular shape. It is understood, of course, that the slits or incisions which are formed in the sheet `may be of diverse character and that a shingle strip having stripes andtabs of dif" ferent and various colors may be formed in accordance with the present invention.

Any suitable mechanism fordriving the moving parts may be employed, but such mechanism is not shown or. described as it forms no part of the present invention.

If desired, the sheet coming from the roll 46 may be simultaneously cut both longitudinally and transversely, so that in one operation a shingle strip of the desired conguration is formed. Also, the sheet may be first cut so as to first form the tabs 52, 53, 54 and.55, as shown in Fig. 3, and thereafter cut transversely along the line 57 to form the desired shingle strip. 125

Itwill be noted that in accordance with the present invention, the shingle strip is formed with a plurality of spaced tabs, each of which and the portions of the shingle strip contiguous thereto has a coating of colored grit which differs from the colored coating of the adjacent tabs and portions of the shingle strip contiguous thereto. This shingle strip may be quickly and cheaply manufactured with any desired number of spaced tabs of suitable configuration and they may be applied to a roof structure easily and with a minimum number of fastenings.

It will, of course, be understood that While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, various changes in details thereof may be made by those skilled in the art and the invention is not to be limited to the disclosures herein, but only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for making roong, means for feeding a fiber sheet, means for applying a waterproof adhesive to a face of said sheet, means for applying separate streams of differently col- 150 ored grit to cause said-grit to adhereto said sheet to form longitudinal stripes of different color, and means for guiding said streams of differently colored grit to prevent one stream of grit from admixing with another stream.

2. In an apparatus for making roofing, means for feeding a fiber sheet, means for applying waterproof adhesive to a face of said sheet, a hopper containing compartments each adapted to receive colored grit, means for feeding said grit from said compartments in streams onto said coating on said sheet and guiding said streams to prevent the admixtu're of one-of said streams with another, means for removing the excess grit, and means for causing the return of the excess grit into the compartment from whence it was fed onto said sheet.

3. In an'apparatus for making roofing, means for feeding a ber sheet, means for applying a Waterproof adhesive to a face of said sheet, a distributing hopper containing a plurality of partitions dividing said hopper into compartments, a feeding roll positioned in said hopper for feeding the grit in said compartments in streams onto said sheet, vertical plates in longitudinal alignment with said partitions extending above said sheetvto guide said streams of grit and prevent admixture of ode stream with another, a calender roll over which said sheet passes,'and guide plates supported in corresponding spaced relation with said vertical plates in position beneath said sheet adjacent said calender roll, to guide the grit removed from said sheet into the compartment from whence it was fed onto said sheet.

4. In apparatus for making roofing, means for feeding a sheet, means for applying a waterproof adhesive to a face of said sheet, a hopper containing partitions therein dividing the hopper into compartments arranged to receive difierently colored grit, means for feeding the differently coloreo. grit from said compartments in separate streams onto said sheet to cause said ering the differently colored grits from said compartments in separate streams onto said sheet to cause said grits to adhere to said sheet to vform longitudinal stripes of different colors, said streams of grits being showered in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of said sheet, and'guide plates extending in a horizontal direction opposite to the direction of movement of said sheet for guiding said streams of differently colored grits to prevent one stream from admixing with another stream.

6. In an apparatus for making roolng, means for feeding a sheet, means for applying a water- 190 proof adhesive to a face of said sheet, a distributing hopper containing a plurality of partitions dividing said hopper into compartments arranged to receive differently colored grits, a feeding rollpositioned in said hopper for feeding the grits in said compartments in separate streams onto said sheet to cause said grits to adhere to said sheet to form longitudinal stripes of different colors, a. calender roll over which said sheet passes and guide plates supported in spaced relation corresponding with the position of the partitions in' said hopper, said plates being disposed beneath said sheet adjacent said calender roll to guide the excess grits removed from said sheet into the compartments from whence they were fed onto said sheet.

CLARENCE R. ECKERT. 

